Fundraising Advice: How to host a fundraising dinner party 🍽️

Grab your pals and invite them for brunch, set up your own at home pop-up cafe or organise a full blown dinner party. Having food with friends isn’t just a fun excuse to channel your inner Gordon Ramsay, it can also be a great way to support CoppaFeel!. 

Here are some helpful tips to make the most of your event. Chances are, if you’re considering organising a foodie fundraiser, you’re already well-versed in the art of hosting, but it’s always a good idea to remind yourself of the basics so you can claim the title of Hostess with the Mostess.

When: You will need a few weeks to plan your foodie event, especially if you’re asking your friends to bring dishes too.

Where: This will typically be you or your friend’s home, though if you want to go the extra mile you can always rent a venue. Whatever you choose, double check that you have enough chairs and crockery for all your guests. 

How:

• Event ideas: Here are some of our favourite ways to share a meal with your pals.

– Curry night

– Bring a board party

– Weekend brunch

– Cookbook club

– At home pop up cafe

– Cupcake decorating

– Themed dinner party

• Fundraising – We’d recommend charging a small entry fee for your event – this can be equivalent to what you’d pay for a meal out. A great way to get started with your fundraising is by setting up a JustGiving page. If you’re creating an invite for your event, you can add a QR code to your JustGiving page directly to the invite.
• Materials – Be sure to let us know about your plans so we can send you fundraising materials. Just fill out this form and we’ll get the goodies to you asap. We also have lots of digital materials that you can customise and print out for your event, including place cards and cake flags. 
• Share the work by asking your guests to bring a dish each. If you fancy getting competitive, you can award a prize for the Master Chef who creates the best dish.
• Safety – Remember to check if any of your friends have allergies or food intolerances you might not already know about and be sure to mark any allergens. A great way to do this is to use our cake labels. 

Lettuce raise some extra cash! 

• Hold a raffle.
• Boost your fundraising efforts by organising games. People can participate in exchange for a small donation. If you’re stuck for game ideas, here are some of our favourites: 

– Guess the number of sweets in a jar

– See if your pals can find all the cherries in our guessing game

– Set up a bingo of in-jokes and oddly specific phrases that your friends just can’t stop saying

– Pin the nipple to the boob 

– Guess the weight of melons in a bra